Deploying cognitive AI assistants for a cutting-edge candidate search

Effective talent management that successfully attracts and retains the best candidates is now more vital than ever, particularly in times of increasing job competition.

Significantly, 56% of recruiters state that access to new recruitment and interview tools is very or extremely important for the future of hiring processes. Working more efficiently is essential for the future success of recruiters, and the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) now provides a unique opportunity to rapidly source top talent and beat the competition.

The integration of back office software systems with a cognitive AI solution, for example, can enable recruiters to quickly locate candidates who meet their specific needs, as well as refine the list to only include the most desirable candidates. AI is undoubtedly becoming one of the most in-demand, cutting-edge tools for sourcing top talent.

Finding the Right Candidates

The most sophisticated cognitive tools perform tasks and take actions based on the data residing in back office software. In traditional HR environments, recruiters would need to open a browser tab, type in the URL of their recruitment system, enter their log-in credentials, and check box after box to find a range of employees who fit their recruitment needs. Now, any recruitment request or search that would traditionally be conducted manually can be spoken or typed into a cognitive virtual assistant.

The use of an AI system gives recruiters a unique advantage by enabling these searches to be as specific or general as they wish, particularly as cognitive systems use machine intelligence to automatically look beyond basic keywords to identify the most applicable candidates. For example, with traditional recruitment tools, a recruiter who is looking for a candidate in retail IT management would see a list of anyone who has a generic interest in retail, plus anyone who has a background in IT. This list would be seemingly endless and largely irrelevant. The intelligence of a cognitive agent can determine that the recruiter’s specific intent is to find a retail IT management expert, subsequently surfacing and contacting only those candidates who meet the assigned criteria.

Capabilities of cognitive AI systems

The intelligence of an AI assistant is not solely limited to its ability to search for candidates. Once a recruiter has finalised a list of prospects, they can easily communicate with the recruits by asking the cognitive AI system to send personalised messages to each. These are done via an email template, but the recruiter can also compose unique messages for each candidate. In either instance, the recruiter doesn’t need to open an email application or marketing automation tool to contact prospects; he or she asks the cognitive solution to contact the candidates on his or her behalf.

As candidates respond to messages, the cognitive solution notifies the recruiter to let them know whether the candidate is interested in pursuing the position. The recruiter then lets the cognitive system know how it should respond. In either case, the recruiter never has to open or close email applications, calendars, recruitment tools, or any other software – he or she communicates the tasks directly to the cognitive system, taking care of all the busywork.

Cognitive Solution: Thomas Reed has responded to your request to meet. Would you like me to open the message?

Cognitive Solution: Would you like me to hold this time on your calendar?

Recruiter: Please do.

After the conversation with Thomas Reed, the recruiter speaks or types responses directly to the cognitive system to update his profile within the recruitment tool. Most crucially, the cognitive system is able to fulfil similar tasks such as automatically updating the recruitment profile of each candidate after every interview. This is a time-efficient, semi-automated process conducted by the cognitive assistant, and is one that continues along each stage of the recruitment procedure, including HR onboarding.

Creating meaningful human relationships

The intelligent, seamless experience continues at each stage in the recruitment process and is something of a Holy Grail for recruiters and HR departments. Too frequently, the constant pressure to trawl through tools to find relevant candidates results in time-poor recruiters who don’t have the time to invest in making better connections with potential candidates.

Using cognitive AI agents, not only can recruiters become more accurate and effective in identifying and communicating with the right candidates for the role, but it frees up valuable time. This allows them to bring the most human element back to their job – building lasting relationships.